Beercules wrote:I'm a big fan of money. I like it, I use it, I have a little. I keep it in a jar on top of my refrigerator. I'd like to put more in that jar. That's where being a lawyer comes in.

Well played, sir. Well played.

Why not go into hedge funds management or investment banking? Being a lawyer doesn't guarantee wealth at all. A top lawyer's salary at equity partner is between $400k and $1M per year. An investment banker can make 10 times that range in a year.

The money in investment banking has dried up, too. You're not going to automatically go in and make high six figures at all. Bonuses suck, base salary sucks.

I appreciate our return to the "why should [you] NOT go to law school" question but I'm wondering if anyone else has a good idea as to why they DO want to go to law school.

I mean, shoot, everyone's pretty good at shooting each other down. What makes your situation any different?

^^I don't mean to come off DBaggy. Obviously no one need justify why they're going to law school to anyone, especially to a bunch of strangers on the internet. And to be fair, I haven't even answered my own question (though I'm sure that some of the reasons I'd like to go would be easily shot down by TLS).

It seems like the one answer that DOESN'T get attacked here is when a person says they know what a lawyer does (yes, the crappy parts too) and they'd like to do that too. I'd argue that not as many people who say this actually know what they're signing up for but it still seems to be the best answer. Anything else?

One a side note, I do wonder if some of these answers that people give aren't just people trolling but rather people just being honest--despite what TLS says.

I appreciate our return to the "why should [you] NOT go to law school" question but I'm wondering if anyone else has a good idea as to why they DO want to go to law school.

I mean, shoot, everyone's pretty good at shooting each other down. What makes your situation any different?

^^I don't mean to come off DBaggy. Obviously no one need justify why they're going to law school to anyone, especially to a bunch of strangers on the internet. And to be fair, I haven't even answered my own question (though I'm sure that some of the reasons I'd like to go would be easily shot down by TLS).

It seems like the one answer that DOESN'T get attacked here is when a person says they know what a lawyer does (yes, the crappy parts too) and they'd like to do that too. I'd argue that not as many people who say this actually know what they're signing up for but it still seems to be the best answer. Anything else?

One a side note, I do wonder if some of these answers that people give aren't just people trolling but rather people just being honest--despite what TLS says.

Did you dislike my answer?

"I'm becoming a lawyer because it provides a certain lifestyle I would like for my family and is a profession that I find interesting. That's pretty much it. It is a job to me -- a job to support my family that, while not my passion, is something I could see myself wanting to do 10, 20 yrs down the road...and find sufficiently fulfilling. But by no means do I crave the law lol."

Factor in how many of those jobs actually pay enough for you to service your debt in one lifetime plus opportunity cost of working x days (because on Vegas you either make it big or go broke in a matter of minutes to days) you probably get like a 5-15% if paying sticker

Working with a parent to determine the amount of time they will spend with their children sounds like intensely gratifying and important work. I cannot imagine a more important moment in someones life. Managing the acquisition for the guy who worked his entire life to build his small business, likewise. Negotiating the copy machine lease with the cable company; yeah, that's mundane, but I like to fight for people regardless. Litigating complex business and labor issues before a judge seems important and interesting. Bottom line is: I view many legal situations as important and interesting and I wouldn't mind having a career based on them. I still need to flesh some of this out and do some more investigation though.

Having grown up with close family friends as lawyers I've always been drawn to their conversations and have always felt they were the smartest most educated people in the room. They were never the most wealthy, but they had intellect, and more than that, they had heart. The pure business and banking types in my family circles didn't even care about social issues. Ironic isn't it, since many people today seem to have negative opinions of lawyers. So, yeah, I'd like to be around lawyers because they seem to have similar concerns in some ways.

MarkinKansasCity wrote:Because I hate government regulations, and I want to work for corporations to find loopholes in the regulations for them, and thus undermine a system I have nothing but contempt for. Seriously.

You must be a lot of fun at parties.

He asked why, and that's the answer. I want to learn how to use the system against itself. It sounds like fun.